It Seems Morgan Stanley Will Go Down. Had Bearish Options Activity

November 28, 2016November 28, 2016Greg Major

In today’s session Morgan Stanley (MS) recorded an unusually high (459) contracts volume of put trades. Someone, most probably a professional was a very active buyer of the January, 2018 put, expecting serious MS decrease. With 459 contracts traded and 65024 open interest for the Jan, 18 contract, it seems this is a quite bearish bet. The option with symbol: MS180119P00035000 closed last at: $2.91 or 6.1% down. About 5.51M shares traded hands. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has risen 49.29% since April 25, 2016 and is uptrending. It has outperformed by 43.28% the S&P500.

Analysts await Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to report earnings on January, 17. They expect $0.60 EPS, up 39.53% or $0.17 from last year’s $0.43 per share. MS’s profit will be $1.13B for 17.01 P/E if the $0.60 EPS becomes a reality. After $0.80 actual EPS reported by Morgan Stanley for the previous quarter, Wall Street now forecasts -25.00% negative EPS growth.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) Ratings Coverage

Out of 20 analysts covering Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), 11 rate it a “Buy”, 2 “Sell”, while 7 “Hold”. This means 55% are positive. Morgan Stanley has been the topic of 47 analyst reports since July 21, 2015 according to StockzIntelligence Inc. As per Thursday, October 20, the company rating was upgraded by Guggenheim. Societe Generale downgraded the shares of MS in a report on Wednesday, January 13 to “Sell” rating. Barclays Capital maintained Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) on Thursday, October 20 with “Equal Weight” rating. Evercore upgraded Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) on Monday, August 31 to “Buy” rating. Atlantic Securities downgraded it to “Underweight” rating and $27 target price in Wednesday, February 3 report. The company was maintained on Thursday, July 21 by RBC Capital Markets. The company was maintained on Tuesday, October 20 by Macquarie Research. On Wednesday, October 5 the stock rating was maintained by Macquarie Research with “Outperform”. Argus Research maintained it with “Buy” rating and $36 target price in Wednesday, August 17 report. The stock has “Market Perform” rating given by Wood on Tuesday, April 19.

According to Zacks Investment Research, “MORGAN STANLEY is a preeminent global financial services firm that maintains leading market positions in each of its three primary businesses: securities; asset management; and credit services. The company combines global strength in investment banking and institutional sales and trading with strength in providing full-service and on-line brokerage services, investment and global asset management services and, primarily through its Discover Card brand, quality consumer credit products.”

Insitutional Activity: The institutional sentiment increased to 0.94 in Q2 2016. Its up 0.09, from 0.85 in 2016Q1. The ratio is positive, as 82 funds sold all Morgan Stanley shares owned while 263 reduced positions. 56 funds bought stakes while 236 increased positions. They now own 1.59 billion shares or 3.33% more from 1.54 billion shares in 2016Q1.
Northern Trust last reported 16.75M shares in the company. Advsr Asset Mngmt Inc, a Colorado-based fund reported 17,886 shares. Thompson Davis & Incorporated has invested 0.04% of its portfolio in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). Wolverine Asset Mngmt Ltd reported 21,000 shares or 0.01% of all its holdings. Whittier Of Nevada Inc accumulated 0% or 868 shares. Blackrock Inc owns 2.74 million shares or 0.11% of their US portfolio. Winslow Evans Crocker holds 160 shares or 0% of its portfolio. Hexavest Inc has 1.07 million shares for 0.42% of their US portfolio. Archford Cap Strategies Ltd Liability Corp, a Illinois-based fund reported 1,054 shares. Sandhill Cap Prtnrs Ltd Limited Liability Company accumulated 280,228 shares or 2.28% of the stock. Investec Asset Mngmt Ltd last reported 0.4% of its portfolio in the stock. The New York-based Mendon Capital has invested 0.55% in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). Gulf Commercial Bank (Uk) accumulated 436,523 shares or 0.19% of the stock. Massmutual Trust Fsb Adv accumulated 1,180 shares or 0% of the stock. Oakbrook Investments Limited Liability Corporation reported 154,650 shares or 0.22% of all its holdings.

Insider Transactions: Since June 29, 2016, the stock had 2 insider buys, and 0 selling transactions for $4.00 million net activity. Shares for $2.00 million were bought by BP4 S.r.l.. Shares for $2.00 million were bought by Trombetta Giandomenico.

Morgan Stanley is a financial holding company. The company has a market cap of $76.56 billion. The Firm is a global financial services firm that, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, advises, and originates, trades, manages and distributes capital for, governments, institutions and individuals. It has a 16.32 P/E ratio. The Company’s divisions include Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.

MS Company Profile

Morgan Stanley, incorporated on October 1, 1981, is a financial holding company. The Firm is a global financial services firm that, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, advises, and originates, trades, manages and distributes capital for governments, institutions and individuals. The Company’s divisions include Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the Company provides a range of services and products to a group of clients and customers, including firms, governments, financial institutions and individuals.

More notable recent Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) news were published by: Businessinsider.com which released: “Here’s Morgan Stanley’s top FX trades for 2017” on November 27, 2016, also Businessinsider.com with their article: “Morgan Stanley thinks the Pixel smartphone will generate Google almost $4 …” published on November 28, 2016, Businessinsider.com published: “This chart shows how radical political parties are losing popularity” on November 28, 2016. More interesting news about Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) were released by: Blogs.Wsj.com and their article: “Morgan Stanley Plans to Drop Out of R3 Blockchain Group” published on November 22, 2016 as well as Economictimes.Indiatimes.com‘s news article titled: “Morgan Stanley turns overweight on Indian market, downgrades other EMs” with publication date: November 28, 2016.